Science Hill runs away from MoEast; Long's buzzer-beater lifts Lady 'Toppers

JOHNSON CITY — On senior night at Science Hill, the Hilltoppers' large senior class made one last winning memory on campus Friday night. Science Hill overcame a slow start to earn a 66-43 victory over Morristown East. "Overall, it was a great game by our seniors," Hilltoppers head coach Jon Higgins said. "They played the majority of the game, about 30 minutes. To see them deal with adversity early then come back and put their footprint on the game, that was a blessing to see and a joy to see." The contest got off to a sentimental start for Science Hill (13-14, 3-3 Big East) and four-year varsity letterman Ty Young. Young suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in the first game of the season, and has been out for the year since. But on senior night, Young got to dress and start for the Hilltoppers one last time, scoring the game's opening bucket before coming out of the game. "We love Ty," Higgins said. "Ty is so important to our program. He's grown up with these guys. He's family with these guys. The coaching staff, we love Ty. He means so much to us." After the moment for Young, Morristown East (3-22, 0-7) came out of the gates strong, using a 5-0 spurt to take a 13-8 lead in the first quarter and held on to a 17-14 advantage after the first eight minutes. Defense proved to be the spark the 'Toppers needed to seize control of the game, and it came in bunches in the second quarter. Science Hill only allowed three points in the period and also closed the first half on a 9-0 run to lead by eight heading into halftime. "I think that's what really helped us - defense," Higgins said. "We're a lot better when we start defensively and get our offense from our defense. I thought we really did a good job of that in the second quarter and it helped us into the third quarter." That defense led to offense by way of transition buckets and leak outs. The 'Topper fastbreak proved potent as the game wore on, especially with Science Hill recording 14 steals and another eight deflections. Senior Jabriel Fain was oftentimes the beneficiary of the defensive effort in the third period, electrifying the home crowd with multiple dunks ahead of the pack. He finished the game with 14 points. "(Transition) was a huge emphasis, especially at halftime," Higgins said. "Getting you in transition – we're a lot better when we get in transition. The ability to get out and go, we're so much better that way. Any opportunity we can to get out and push in transition, we're going to try and take it." The Hilltoppers pulled away as the night went on, leading by 17 after three quarters and winning the contest by 23. Senior Stephen Hensley led the 'Toppers in scoring, going for 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He also grabbed five rebounds, nabbed four steals, and dished out three assists. Jamin Robbins chipped in 11 points and Brody McGuire had eight points, six assists, four steals, and two of Science Hill's four made 3's. Jaxson Archer led the way in scoring for the 'Canes, posting a game-high 22 points going 8-of-17 from the field. Chance Stokely posted 10 points and shot 5-of-6. Girls: Science Hill 61, Morristown East 60 The third time proved to be the charm for the Lady Hilltoppers. After falling in both December and January to the Lady Hurricanes, Science Hill eeked out a one-point victory over the first-place team in the Big East standings. "We've played them twice this year already," Lady Toppers head coach Beau Hauldren said. "Both times, we lost by 30-plus. We knew it was going to be a challenge. They're extremely talented." Science Hill (12-14, 2-4) found itself tied with Morristown East with under two minutes to play in regulation. That was until Hannah Hall split a pair of free throws at the 1:40 mark, putting the Lady Canes up 60-59. Much of the remaining time, the Lady Toppers continued to get look after look to take the lead, but to no avail. Following a pair of misses, the Lady Canes (19-6, 5-2) threw the ball right back to Science Hill and Khloe Sommers. Her steal led to more good chances at the rim, but once again, no dice. However, the Lady Toppers kept getting offensive rebounds, and with 14.8 seconds left, Hauldren called a timeout to draw up a play. It was run well, but ultimately the Lady Canes got a stop with five and a half seconds left. All hope wasn't lost though, as MoEast threw the ball away on the inbound. The ball wound up in the hands of Gabby Long. She got into the lane, spun, and put up a tough shot that banked home at the buzzer. It was her only made field goal of the game. "We subbed Gabby in there at the end," Hauldren said. "Went full-court man-to-man. We did a great job of denying the ball. Hall kind of threw it away there. Allie (Conner) came up with the steal and pitched it to Gabby." After a sluggish first quarter, both teams caught fire in the second period. The Lady Toppers made seven triples in the frame and MoEast made three, as the hosts out-paced the Lady Hurricanes 27-17 in the second to get a halftime lead. Morristown East slowed the Science Hill attack down in the third, though, allowing just seven points. Only two of those came from a field goal, while nine of 17 points for East came from the charity stripe. "Coming out in the third quarter, we've got to be better and I've got to be better about making adjustments," Hauldren said. "We can't have letdowns." Both Sommers and Amiah Lewis led the Lady Topper offense, each posting a team-high 16 points. Audrey Adams added in 14, eight coming in the fourth quarter. Kennady Phillips netted a game-high 24 points for Morristown East. Hall scored 15 and Molli Stuffle posted 10 points. "Obviously, we started the first round (of league play) 0-4," Hauldren said. "Now in the second round we're 2-0 against Morristown West and Morristown East. Obviously our goal is to at least not play in that play-in game." Up Next Science Hill will pay a visit to West Ridge on Tuesday. Morristown East will take on cross-town rival Morristown West next Friday.